This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Furniture can include one or more cushions for providing cushioned support of a person seated on the furniture. For instance, couches, sofas, loveseats, chairs, and the like often include seat cushions. These cushions are typically made of resiliently deformable material, such as foam, and can be encased within upholstery and the like. The cushions can thus deform to the shape of the seated person, and yet provide sufficient firmness to support the person comfortably and facilitate the person moving off of the piece of furniture.
Typically, cushions include one or more overlapping layers of compressible material. Thus, in the direction of the weight applied by the seated person, the cushion typically has a uniform resistance to resilient deformation. However, because different areas of the seated person's body apply varying amounts of weight or pressure to the cushion, the cushion may deform in an undesirable manner.
For instance, the seated person's hip area might be supported by a central area of the cushion, and the person's lower thighs might be supported by a forward area of the cushion. Also, the seated person's hip area might apply more pressure due to the cushion than the person's lower thighs due to the difference in weight of these respective body portions. Accordingly, the central portion of the cushion might be compressed more than the forward end, especially when the person has been seated for an extended period of time. This condition can cause an uncomfortable amount of upward pressure to be exerted by the forward area of the cushion onto the person's lower thighs. Also, the person could become uncomfortable while seated on the cushion as the central area is compressed more or sinks deeper than surrounding areas of the cushion because it can become difficult to sit upright. Furthermore, the person may have difficulty adjusting his or her position and/or moving off of the cushion because the hip area of the seated person has sunk deeper into the central area of the cushion than the lower thighs have sunk into surrounding areas of the cushion.